“It’s complicated. I feel like he’s trying to fill this out like a to do list. Graduate, get a good job, get married, have babies, buy a house, retire from the military, work at family business, retire. All that junk. There’s no diverging from the plan. I want to stay in school. I want to struggle to get a job out of college, and I want to pay my dues while I get coffee for some big shot executive in a lucrative marketing firm.”
As soon as it came out, I knew it was what I wanted. I liked marketing and numbers, and I didn’t want to do it for a charity. I wanted to do it for a big company. I wanted the designer suits, and the flashy briefcase I carried on public transportation while I rushed to a big meeting I was running. I wanted a career.
“Then do it.”
“I will.” I paused, feeling a weight being lifted off my chest. Then I looked at my friend, missing her for the millionth time since she left. “Thanks.” I didn’t know what else to say, but I thought she’d pick up on it.
“Anytime.”
We talked a little bit about her and Berneli. Violet was struggling a little with the idea of him teaching, because that was how they met. He insisted she was being ridiculous, and she insisted the fears weren’t going away.
“Violet, Berneli cares about you. He’s not just going to throw that away for some lay. You’re too good in bed for that,” I reminded her, pleased to see it made her smile.
“Valid point. I just…”
“Stop worrying about problems that aren’t there. Berneli is in your bed every night, and he’s given you no reason to doubt him, right?”
“Well, true but…”
“Then you need to find a way to trust him or come home. You didn’t fly over there because you wanted sex on the regular. There are plenty of guys here who would be more than happy to take care of that for you. You went there because you love him. So love and trust him.”
“Ugh, you’re right. I’ll try to calm down some and give him some slack.”
“You better or I’m going to send him a message to change all his passwords on his phone and computer. You shouldn’t be snooping.”
“I never said I was snooping!” Violet insisted, but after a stern look from me, she was singing a different tune. “Okay, I only snoop sometimes, but…”
“Stop snooping!”
“You are no fun, my friend.”
“Love you too.” We hung up as Annabelle walked over to me.
“Violet still snooping?” she asked without missing a beat.
“Yeah,” I said, laughing a little.
We were on our way to the cafeteria when my phone rang. Taking a deep breath, I answered and waited for the worst.
“Hi, Mom.”
“Christie, where did you go? I had a surprise for you but you weren’t in your bed.” She sounded out of breath and a little confused.
“Mom, I left you a note on the fridge. I’m with Annabelle again.”
“Good, I have a surprise for you. I’ll pick you up at school and we can all go together. You’re saving us a call, so we don’t have to get in touch with Annabelle.”
“Wait, who is this ‘us’ you speak of?” Did Rob fly home or something?
“I’m not telling. I’ll be in lot three in about ten minutes, so be ready.” Then she hung up the phone before I could get another word in. The people in my life really needed to learn to say goodbye or something before clicking off.
“I have no idea what’s going on, but I think I need a sticky bun,” I told Annabelle and we rushed to the cafeteria.
***
Mom pulled up with her Range Rover and I was about to open the door, when someone came bursting out of the car. She was five seven, about one hundred and twenty pounds, and most of that was in her chestnut hair.
“Mindy, what are you doing here?” She was my best friend, but she’s been away at school in New York.
“Your mom insisted I come down today to be a part of the big surprise. So…” She pulled a sleep mask out of her pocket and placed it over my eyes.
“Wait,” I said, as panic struck me. I wasn’t the biggest fan of surprises. “How about we put the blindfold on when I’m in the car?”
“Good call,” Mindy responded, winking her hazel eyes at me. “We wouldn’t want you hurting yourself. It would completely ruin the afternoon.”
I slid the mask back off my head and climbed into the passenger seat. Then, trying not to roll my eyes, I put the mask back on and I heard Mindy climb into the car.
“Come on, Annabelle. You’re invited too, Sugar,” my mom called to her.
I asked a million questions, but they wouldn’t tell me where we were going, who we would see, or why we were going there. I had nightmares about a situation like this, but in my dreams, strangers did this. Nonetheless, I was still scared shitless.
Finally, Mom stopped the car and I heard car doors open. Mindy guided me out of the car, insisting I couldn’t take the mask off yet.
“Guys, I’m not sure this is the best idea right now,” I heard Annabelle comment quickly, but they brushed her off and ushered me into the building.
Past my mother’s perfume, I couldn’t smell anything, but I heard cheesy music playing in the background. The floor was soft, probably carpeted, since I didn’t hear any high heel noises. When I tried to reach my hands out to touch something, Mindy swatted it away.
My mom left my side and I heard her say that we were ready for my appointment. Were we at a new salon or something? Maybe they’d decided to get me to see a psychologist because of my doubts with Rob. Well, I could mitigate that straight away since we were broken up…or at least I considered us broken up.
After a few more minutes of standing still, I felt another hand take mine. It must have been Annabelle, because I smelled her token vanilla perfume. It did calm me a little, knowing she was there. True, she may have said this was a bad idea, but she could help contain the crazy train my mother and Mindy were on.
“All right, darling, take the mask off,” my mother cheered.
I slid it off my head and fought the urge not to pass out when I saw where we were.
Chapter 7
Mom and Mindy were both holding up long white dresses covered in jewels, tulle, and lace. Hundreds of other gowns were on racks all over the store, and from the back room, I heard someone saying yes to her dress.
We were in a bridal salon.
“Surprise,” my mother cooed, grinning from ear to ear. “Aren’t you happy? We’re gonna find you a dress so we have plenty of time to get it altered. If I can get the designer to make you a whole new one, I will. I only want the best for you.”
I pasted a fake smile on my face and turned to look at Annabelle. “Did you know about this?”
“No, I found out when we pulled up.’
Before I could say another word, a consultant was in front of me, taking measurements.
“I need you to take off that bulky sweater, honey,” the consultant said as she tried to wrap the tape measure around my waist.
Automatically, I took the sweater off, and stood in the middle of the bridal salon in my tank top and leggings.
“Stripper Barbie,” Annabelle whispered. “I think they want you to go into the dressing room before you start making the other girls feel crappy about their love handles.”
I grabbed her wrist. “Fine, but you’re coming with me.” I turned to my mom and Mindy, who were so caught up in looking at dresses, that they didn’t notice how upset I was. “Guys,” I called, and they finally turned to look at me. “I’m gonna have Annabelle come in the dressing room with me. Why don’t you pick out some dresses?”
“Good idea, Chris. I know exactly what you like,” Mindy assured me and went back to the rack. Mom seemed to take what Mindy said as a bit of a challenge and attacked a different set of gowns.
The consultant followed us into the dressing room and continued her measurements. When she left, I crumpled to the floor.
Annabelle knelt beside me. “So, do you want
me to go out and tell them that this isn’t going to happen? I can say you broke up with Rob last night, or that you’re on your period and don’t want to do this today. Should I say I hate all the dresses to cause controversy so we have to come back another day? Just tell me what to say and I’ll say it.”
“I want you to call Jason and have him pick us up. I can’t do this now. Once I’m in the dress, I feel like it’ll snowball. Mom will pay for it, or alterations, or order a new dress. Something will happen and she won’t get her money back for whatever it is she does. I don’t want her to do that.”
Annabelle took her phone out of her bag and called Jason. He answered almost instantly and she hung up right after giving him the address.
“Okay, so he’ll be here in ten minutes. Should I stall until then?”
“No, let’s just stay in the fitting room. Hopefully it will take them forever to pick a dress.”
As if. Mom came rushing into the fitting room about two minutes later and thrust a gown into my arms. “Darlin’, I found the perfect dress.” She turned to look at Annabelle and beamed like she won the lottery. “Annabelle, come sit outside with me while the consultant gets Christie into this dress.” She linked her arm with Annabelle’s and practically pulled her out of the room.
The consultant came in next and ordered my clothes off. I was wearing a leopard bra, which made me laugh a little, as it would be all wrong for the dress. The consultant noticed it too and ran back out of the room. She came back holding a white bra, surprisingly enough my size, and a white slip.
“Put these on and then I’ll tie you into this dress.” She left the room and I quickly did as she said, hoping I could get in and out of the dress before Jason got here.
The consultant came back as I was stepping into the slip and then spread the pile of tulle my mother had called a dress out on the floor.
“Okay, step into the middle and I’ll pull it up and over.”
I did as I was told again and sucked in a deep breath. As the consultant pulled the dress up, I let out that breath with a sigh of relief. I would never, under any circumstances, wear this dress. It was about as wide as it was tall, the bottom was lace on top of tulle, on top of even more tulle, and the bodice had a giant flower on the side, and the short sleeves cut me funny.
The dress looked awful, but I could see my mother loving every inch of it. True, I did look pretty in the dress, but I felt a bit more like the flower girl than the grown up bride.
I walked out of the fitting room and I instantly made eye contact with Annabelle. Her eyes grew big and she coughed, clearly trying to cover up a laugh. Then I looked at Mindy, happy to see a look of disgust on her face. But next to her, sat my mother, bawling her eyes out as if I were going off to a convent and this wedding was her last chance to get a grandchild.
“Mom, this isn’t my dress,” I managed to say, hoping she’d get the hint to calm down.
“Well, of course it isn’t. I don’t know why you didn’t try one of my picks first. This is just so juvenile,” Mindy insisted, turning to my mother.
“I am juvenile, Mindy. I’m standing in a wedding dress at nineteen,” I reminded them.
“Why don’t I help you get out of that dress,” Annabelle offered, waving her phone in the air a little.
“Yes, that’s a good idea.” I almost ran back to the fitting room.
I stood there, waiting for Annabelle to undo all the little buttons, but I’d made the mistake of looking in the mirror. What the hell was I doing? I didn’t even look grown up in the mirror. I was too young to be getting married, and Rob was the wrong guy to be married to. I started breathing a little too heavily. The dress was too tight. Too tight. I needed out of the dress.
“Annabelle, get the dress off. I can’t breathe.” I reached around to try and rip the buttons off if I could. Screw the money. I felt the walls around me going a little fuzzy and I fought the urge to pass out.
All of a sudden, Annabelle wrapped her arms around me tight and squeezed me within an inch of my life. “Just breathe,” she reiterated over and over again.
Copying her slow and steady breathing, I closed my eyes and let my basic instincts take over. After several deep breaths, I opened my eyes and the world wasn’t fuzzy anymore.
“Better?”
“Yes, but I still need the dress off.” She nodded her head and worked on the rest of the buttons. “And, Annabelle, when I do get married, I want a dress that zips.”
“Got it,” she replied, as she helped me step out of the dress.
I had managed to put my bra back on and I was almost in my leggings when the consultant walked back in with at least five dresses threatening to drown her. I was about to scream at her when Annabelle stepped in.
“Listen, we don’t want to waste your time, but Christie’s mom brought her here before she got engaged, and this is all a little too overwhelming. She’s not going to try on any other dresses, and I’m going to take her home. But her mom isn’t going to just let us walk out…is there any way you can distract her for about five minutes so we can leave?” Annabelle spoke in such a business, no nonsense tone. I was impressed.
The consultant smiled sweetly at us. “Don’t worry. You’d be surprised how often this happens. I’ll go show them some veils in the back, and you can sneak out.”
We thanked her and I grabbed my sweater, throwing it on like a safety blanket. The consultant was about to walk out when she reconsidered and turned back to me.
“Don’t get married until you’re ready. It doesn’t matter what your mother or your friends say. If it’s meant to be, you’ll feel it in your heart.” She patted my shoulder and then walked out.
Annabelle snuck a peek outside the curtain, and I grabbed my things, ready to make the mad dash.
“Let’s go,” she called and we rushed out of the store.
Jason’s car was sitting, double parked and running. As soon as we jumped in, he stepped on the gas and tore out of the parking lot. It reminded me a little of the way Shane drove and I couldn’t help but smile.
In his infinite wisdom, Jason drove us to a breakfast place down the street from the bridal salon. I told them to go in ahead of me and I stayed in the car to send Rob the text.
Christie: I tried to tell u last night. I can’t do this relationship anymore. We’re done. I don’t want to get married, and I don’t want to try to work it out. Please don’t try to change my mind. It’s made up.
It was a long text, but I felt like it couldn’t get any more final than that. Then, it was my mother’s turn. She, I was afraid to call.
Christie: Rob and I broke up. I don’t want to talk about it, but I ended it. I’m w/ Annabelle, so don’t worry. I’ll be home by 10.
Then, I did what I almost never do. I turned my phone off and headed into the restaurant to eat my sorrows away with toast, hash browns, and whatever else I could shove into my mouth.
Annabelle and Jason were a big help. They didn’t talk about weddings, or dating, or anything. Instead, we talked about the comedian coming in a few weeks, and the plans they had for Homecoming. It was a great distraction, and I wasn’t even worried about the fact that I wouldn’t have a date for the Homecoming dance. Especially when Annabelle told me that Violet was planning to come home for a long weekend. It would be nice to see her and we could go together. It’d be a chick date.
Jason dropped us off at the movies, and we spent the rest of the day doing what I had wanted to initially. We watched two movies, back to back, and ate even more terrible food. By the time the second movie was over, I felt thoroughly disgusting, but my mood had dramatically improved. I had also added a couple things to my not settling down list. I’d never officially added the dance thing, so now seemed like a good time.
1. Go to a club and dance all night
Probably should learn to dance first
2. Do something illegal
3. Try something new, like maybe cliff diving
Since I was able to cross off the doub
le movie day, it seemed only fair to add a few more. Besides, I think Shane could help me cross off a few more, and that thought excited me enough to risk going home a little early.
***
When I pulled into my driveway, I saw my mother peeking out the front window. She had heard my car and knew I was there. No point trying to sneak in now. I walked in the front door and she pointed to one of the plush chairs sitting in our living room.
“Sit down, young lady.”
I nodded and sat down, noticing Mindy sitting on the couch across from me. She looked like she had been crying.
“Listen to me. I have never been so embarrassed as I was today when I found out you left us. Do you know I’ll never be able to step foot in that shop again? I’ve spent weeks establishing relationships with those women so that everything would be perfect for this day, and then you treat me like this?”
“Mom, I didn’t want to be there. Rob and I broke up.”
“What?” Both Mom and Mindy spoke in unison.
“I don’t want to do this. I don’t want to marry Rob in a few months and drop out of school. I like school. I have friends there and I don’t want to—”
“What about me?” Mindy asked in tears. “I hopped the train early this morning to spend the day with my best friend and you run off with some girl you’ve known for a couple months. We’ve known each other forever.”
“I know, Mindy. But you surprised me. I just broke up with Rob last night, and I didn’t want to talk about it yet. If I knew you were coming down, I would have warned you. Both of you are furious with me, but what about you? Surprising me with a trip to the salon before I’m even engaged!” I felt the fury start to build up inside of me. I wouldn’t allow them to turn this around on me.
“Rob told me he got the ring. It’s always been the plan for you two to get married in June. I don’t know why you are acting like this is a big surprise,” my mom shouted.
“You’re right. I should have been honest with you guys. But I did text you, Mom,” I conceded. That part was my fault. “I should have said that I was unhappy a long time ago, and we could have avoided this. But I’m not going to marry him. I’m not even going to be with him anymore.” I remembered Annabelle’s advice and I tried to be as clear as I possibly could.
Third Wheel (Elton Hall Chronicles Book 3) Page 6